[Melanie Phillips] In 1970 the novelist Saul Bellow, a titan of American letters, published his masterpiece Mr Sammler’s Planet.
Its eponymous hero is a Holocaust survivor who, in a decaying New York City, sees into the heart of things. A calculated attack on a range of liberal pieties, the novel caused intense controversy. Sammler, and thus Bellow himself, was accused of being misanthropic, racist, sexist, and reactionary.
Not surprisingly, liberal literary America was outraged and affronted. Equally unsurprisingly, the book was brandished as proof that Bellow had "moved to the right". This is, of course, the standard denunciation of irredeemable evil that has sunk countless reputations and careers on the jagged rocks of elite disgust — but is so often instead proof positive of the denounced individual’s clarity of vision and moral purpose.
So it was with Saul Bellow. Sammler is a latter-day prophet, seeing with his one functioning eye straight through liberal hypocrisy to call out civilisational decay.
What now seems all too familiar was all there in the novel — racial prejudice, sexual violence, civil disobedience and a no-holds-barred capacity to give offence, it seemed, to as many hyper-sensitive groups as possible. The premonition of today’s culture wars is striking.
“Joe Biden” is feeling blue. Not a joke. In the lurid sunset of his dwindling term-in-office, the long shadow of his legacy points toward a gigantic glowing cinder where North America used to be. Such are the grievances of the outgoing president. I pass unto you and your legions of white supremacist slobs the ashtray that was once our mighty nation. Fix that! But, as Sir Mick Jagger observed some time ago: you can’t always get what you want. “Joe Biden,” in despair, sinks deeper into his McTeer power recliner and slips back into the bitter dream of his nemesis, a beast named Chrump. . . .
It’s such a chewy name: Chrump, a fricative fiesta! The tongue briefly presses against the alveolar ridge before releasing, then curls back, and the jaw opens slightly to form this vowel sound, the lips close to let the sound resonate nasally before releasing air. Chrump Chrump Chrump. Like, what your mouth would feel like working through a bowl of Froot Loops. So satisfying! The outgoing Party of Chaos can’t stop chanting it on the cable news networks, as if trying to invoke the ancient furies, ghastly, terrifying figures with snakes for hair, dogs' heads, blood-red eyes, and bat-wings, brandishing torches and scourges to mortify their enemy.
Otherwise, fantasy aside, they are in paralysis as this enemy, Mr. Trump, marshals his pieces on the gameboard: Musk, Vivek, Bobby Jr, Tulsi, Bondi, Hegseth . . . . Ay-yeeeeee! They are coming to get us. . . . Somebody. . . do something. . . !
Okay, then, who, exactly, in the shadows behind the half-conscious ghoul in the White House, thinks that now is a great time to commence an ATACMS (Attack’ems) missile barrage on Russia as the very thing to salvage our Ukraine project? You’d naturally turn first to Blinken and Jake Sullivan, those gold-dust twins of overseas jiggery-pokery. Or, is it the geniuses at Spook Central, worried about the fumigating operation incoming with Mr. Ratcliffe? Or perhaps it’s the men-in-skirts over in the Pentagon, seeking to punish humanity because of the clerical error inflicted on them by the desk up-yonder that handles sexual assignments at birth. Blow it all up!
Posted by: NoMoreBS ||
11/26/2024 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin.
The film maker, Maxim Fadeev, has a YouTube channel in which there are snippets of this project with English subtitles. The film is being re-sent on Russian broadcast entities, so no English translation.
The video at the end is another snippet from the final project. It shows the Donetsk "Somalia" rifle unit room clearing a high rise building in Mariupol.
The video has English subtitles.
[ColonelCassad] It happened! Our tetralogy "On the edge of the abyss. The battle for Mariupol through the eyes of an eyewitness" is being released on domestic online platforms from today - note that this is the FIRST documentary about the SVO that they will show. A great beginning and a real event!
Maxim Fadeev filmed a four-part film in the very hell, in the assault formations of the Donetsk battalion "Somalia" - on the very edge of the abyss. This is an immersive film and a monumental film at the same time. The realities of war are honest, open and unvarnished. Independent cinema - exclusively on public funds.
Unique footage: cleansing, capturing enemies, artillery duels, rescuing fellow soldiers and the fates of the civilian population of the burning city - all this in a gripping documentary action from the first person, at arm's length. Go and see!
[FoxNews] Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer said while militaries may win the battles, 'it's the economies that win wars'
A top military official with NATO warned businesses on Monday to be ready for a wartime scenario, which could entail adjusting production and distribution lines to be less vulnerable to blackmail from Russia and China.
Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, the chairperson of NATO’s military committee, told attendees at an event of the European Policy Center think tank in Brussels that all available instruments could be used during a time of war, according to a report from Reuters.
"If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence," Bauer said.
He also said NATO is seeing a growing number of sabotage acts while Europe has seen the same when it comes to its energy supply.
"We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with Mr. Putin. And the same goes for Chinese-owned infrastructure and goods. We actually have a deal with [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping]," Bauer told the group.
The west, Bauer explained, depends on supplies from China, as 60% of all rare earth materials are produced, and 90% of those are processed there.
Also coming from China are chemical ingredients for sedatives, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and low blood pressure medications, he further explained.
"We are naive if we think the Communist Party will never use that power," Bauer said. "Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation."
"Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly," he continued to stress. "Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it's the economies that win wars."
Bauer’s message comes as tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to escalate.
"We are naive if we think the Communist Party will never use that power," Bauer said. "Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation."
"Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly," he continued to stress. "Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it's the economies that win wars."
Bauer’s message comes as tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to escalate.
[SDUT] Dan Walters via Calmatters
History will — or at least should — see a $165 billion error in revenue estimates as one of California’s most boneheaded political acts.
It happened in 2022, as the state was emerging from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Department of Finance, based on one short-term spike in income taxes, projected that revenues from the state’s three largest sources would remain above $200 billion a year indefinitely.
Newsom then declared that the budget had a $97.5 billion surplus, although that number never appeared in any documents.
With that in mind, he and the Legislature adopted a budget with billions in new spending, most notably on health and welfare programs and cash payments to poor families.
Within a few weeks, Newsom and legislators learned that real revenues were falling well short of the rosy projections. But the damage, in terms of expanded spending, was done.
Two years later, buried in its fine print, the deficit-ridden 2024-25 budget acknowledged that sales taxes and personal and corporate income tax revenues would fall well short of the $200 billion a year projection, estimating a $165.1 billion shortfall over four years.
The past two years have seen budgets with deficits papered over with direct and indirect borrowing, tapped emergency reserves, vague assumptions of future spending cuts, and accounting gimmicks. For instance, the current budget "saves" several billion dollars by counting next June’s state payroll as an expenditure in the following fiscal year.
This bit of fiscal history is important to remember because the twin 2022 acts of overestimating revenues and overspending billions of nonexistent dollars on new and expanded services continues to haunt the state, as a new analysis indicates.
The Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabe Petek, unveiled his office’s annual overview of the state’s finances Wednesday and it wasn’t a pretty picture.
There’s been a recent uptick in personal income tax revenues thanks to wealthy investors’ stock market gains , some stemming from Donald Trump’s presidential victory. However, Petek said, government spending — much of it dating from 2022’s phony surplus — is continuing to outpace revenues from "a sluggish economy," creating operating deficits.
"Outside of government and health care, the state has added no jobs in a year and a half," the analysis declares. "Similarly, the number of Californians who are unemployed is 25% higher than during the strong labor markets of 2019 and 2022. Consumer spending (measured by inflation‑adjusted retail sales and taxable sales) has continued to decline throughout 2024."
Meanwhile, it continues, "one reason the state faces operating deficits is growth in spending. Our estimate of annual total spending growth across the forecast period — from 2025‑26 to 2028‑29 — is 5.8% (6.3% excluding K‑14 education). By historical standards, this is high."
Petek’s grim outlook coupled with the more conservative bent of voters, as shown in this month’s election, present a political dilemma for a governor and a Legislature oriented toward expanding government.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, reacting to the analysis in a statement, indicated that he’s gotten the message.
"We need to show restraint with this year’s budget, because California must be prepared for any challenges, including ones from Washington," Rivas said. "It’s not a moment for expanding programs, but for protecting and preserving services that truly benefit all Californians."
Newsom will propose a 2025-26 budget in January, but no matter what he and the Legislature decide, the structural budget deficit will still be there when he exits the governorship in 2027. It will be part of his legacy.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2024 10:39 Comments ||
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#4
Now, if we can just break the lock CARB has on products, we'll be on the track to fix things.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/26/2024 11:04 Comments ||
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#5
With that in mind, he (Newsom) and the Legislature adopted a budget with billions in new spending, most notably on health and welfare programs boondoggles and cash payments to poor families their cronies and political allies.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/26/2024 12:02 Comments ||
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#6
His friends that received the government largess will reward him, but Gavin will never be president.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/26/2024 12:34 Comments ||
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#7
$165 billion revenue error
...$165,000,000,000.00 is NOT an error. It is a conscious decision. Don't give me this 'oh-we-goofed' crap. You're either incompetent, criminals, or incompetent criminals.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
